Starting off your new life, step by step

May 3, 2011 Claudia Ramirez No comments

Your exercising work ethic in the first six months after surgery plays a vital role in instilling in you the “exercise mentality” for the rest of your new life. The best way to get started for a lot of post-op patients is by taking little steps, literally! With May starting, the weather is getting perfect to get out and go for a walk.

I have many clients who are intimidated by the thought of weight training. They’re thinking dumbbells, cables and really hard work. Right? Well calm down a bit! You’ll get to that eventually, if you want to. For the first few weeks after surgery simply going out for a walk will suffice, and it will give you a nice solid base to get in the frame of mind to exercise regularly.

At first, walking for a significant amount of time might be difficult. And if it is, THAT IS OKAY!! You just want to get up and get moving. In the first couple of weeks after surgery, get outside 6 days a week and go for a 10 minute walk. 10 minutes is your starting point.

(Of course, for some of you 10 minutes might not be enough. If you still feel charged and ready to go after 10 minutes, find your own limit and make that your starting point.)

Once you’ve mastered the 10 minute walk – hopefully after the first week – start slightly increasing the time you walk by 10% each week, until you are walking 45-60 minutes per day. When you hit this mark, you will be feeling amazing. The confidence that exercising gives you – knowing that you’re being proactive in your weight loss efforts – is priceless. Plus, the extra release of serotonin you’ll get from exercising will help put you in a positive, healthy place, and make your day that much better!

Okay, so you’ve worked your way up to 45-60 minutes of walking each day, 6 days a week and you feel fantastic. The next step is to get yourself a heart rate monitor and start moving your arms! When you get to the heart monitor step, you want your heart to be pumping nice and strong during your exercise. Figure out your maximum heart rate, and stay at 80% of your max for the duration of your walk. This will get your blood flowing, help you burn more calories, increase the strength of your heart, and make your body feel great!

Whichever level you’re at in your post-op workout routine it is important to set goals. Getting to that next level is a rewarding task and watching the number on the scale go down as a result is one heck of a bonus! It’s nice outside right now, so get outside, smell the fresh air, say hi to your neighbors (the ones you like), and go make yourself look and feel better than you ever have!

Think you have the gusto to add some weight and really feel the burn??? DO NOT USE HAND WEIGHTS WHILE WALKING. Wear a weighted vest …

Good luck!

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Changing the Rules of Good Nutrition: Special Offer

April 6, 2011 Claudia Ramirez No comments

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Machines vs Free Weights

March 27, 2011 Claudia Ramirez No comments
Machines vs Free Weights

Which is the better option for fat loss?  Let’s take a look and the pros and cons of each.  Machines are great for beginners, they are easy to use, most are safe and you are only pushing or pulling on all of them.  Sounds like a good deal and when starting a training program, it is sometimes safer to start with machines because you don’t have a trainer guiding you through your program and correcting your form.  It’s hard to get the form wrong on a stationary machine.  All these great things about machines are also the the things that do not make them the best tools for a fat loss training program!

Free weights (dumbbells, cables, etc…) are far superior for a fat loss training program.  When using free weights you have to use your entire body to control the weight through a full range of motion.  Your core has to engage for you to maintain proper posture and balance.  Your small stabilizer muscles have to kick in to control the weights.  All these things combine to create a superior exercise program.

We spend way too much time sitting in chairs at work or on the couch in front of the tv, why would you go to the gym and spend an hour “exercising” while sitting on your behind?  Doesn’t make sense to me!

 

Photo: istockphoto.com

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Best Cardio Exercises for Fat Loss – H.I.I.T.

January 3, 2011 Claudia Ramirez No comments

Moderate intensity cardioYou are going to be a success story.  You have lost a bunch of weight so far and you are looking for a little boost to keep the weight loss train rolling.  Enter exercise into the equation, but not just any exercise.  You want the best exercises for your current goals…Fat Loss.  Most long-time dieters think that slow steady state cardio is the best way to lose fat.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Slow steady state cardio is a great way to improve cardiovascular conditioning, reduce risk for certain diseases, improving your blood lipid profile but not fat loss.  You see, doing steady state cardio actually teaches your body how to store fat, not burn it.  Well, what about all those skinny runners out there you ask?  Ever consider that they were skinny before they started running?  So should you stop all your slow steady state walking that you are currently doing every morning?  No, but you might consider incorporating some higher intensity intervals into your plan.

High intensity interval training is a great way to burn fat and raise your metabolic (fat burning) rate all day and into tomorrow.  How does this type of training work?  All you have to do is start to add in some quick bursts of speed into your current program.  Let’s say you are currently walking 30-45 minutes every day.  Take two of those days and change your plan so that 20 of those minutes are of higher intensity.  This is what it would look like:

Time Intensity

5 minutes Warm-up speed
30 sec RPE 10
2 min RPE 5
30 sec RPE 10
2 min RPE 5
30 sec RPE 10
2 min RPE 5
30 sec RPE 10
2 min RPE 5
30 sec RPE 10
5 min Cool down

RPE is rate of perceived exertion on a scale of 1-10.  1 being sitting in a chair and 10 being as hard or fast as you can possibly handle.  Give this type of training a try twice a week and see your fat loss get a kick start!

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What is Dynamic Progress and How Can We Help You?

June 8, 2009 Claudia Ramirez No comments

bariatricDynamic Progress was born out of a need to help bariactric patients manage their struggles with weight loss after their surgery. Claudia P. Ramirez, MS, CSCS and Dr. Sonny Cavazos joined forces to give his patients the tools they need to truly live the life they have always wanted.

Dynamic Progress started with Claudia leading a weekly lecture on the importance of exercise during the first six months after surgery. A short four years later and several success stories later, Claudia has built Dynamic Progress to help everyone achieve their weight loss goals with internet exercise programs, live exercise support groups, online support forum, self-directed accountability nutrition program and personal training.

For more information about how you can achieve your weight loss goals, call Claudia at 210.391.9979 or email her - claudia@dynamic-progress.com. Claudia is compassionate and cares about all her clients.

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